DAMMAM, 7 May 2004 — Imran’s Tigers Black Cricket Club clinched the Close-Up title in a thriller by defeating Age Green Cricket Club by four wickets in the final. The event was organized by the Eastern Province Cricket Association (EPCA) and sponsored by Close-Up.
Twelve teams fought it out in two groups. The matches were played on a knockout basis with each match restricted to 5 overs a side. In the quarterfinals the teams’ results were as follows:
Kanoo-B (95 for 0) beat Imran’s Tigers Gold (66 for 3); Age Green (87 for 1) beat Kanoo-A (84 for 2). In the semifinals, Age Green defeated K. Al-Gosaibi by 5 wickets. K. Al-Gosaibi batted first and scored 72 runs. Chasing the target, Age Green scored the required runs with ease. Amjad Butt hit a breezy unbeaten 52 with the help of five sixes.
In the other semifinal, Imran’s Tigers Black (40- for 0) beat Kanoo-B by five wickets. Kanoo-B batted first and scored 39 for 4 wickets. In reply, Imran’s Tigers Black crossed the winning mark in 4 overs.
In the final match, Imran’s Tigers Black defeated Age Green by four wickets. Age Green won the toss and elected to bat first. They put up a challenging total of 75 for one wicket in their allotted overs.
Amjad Butt was the highest scorer (53 not out).
In reply, Imran’s Tigers Black took up the challenge, and raced to 76 for 1 wicket in 4.4 overs with Wasim being the topscorer (25 not out).
